Aunt Deb's Wall

My Aunt recently bought a lovely new house, and with that lovely new house, came lovely empty walls. Which, of course, she would like filled. Going on very little, this is what I came up with for her new dining room. The room has 1 wall painted sage green, and she added a sand colored table runner and table cloth to the table.

You'll Need:

Mod Podge
1" bristle paint brush (3/$1 at DT)
Wooden Embellishments ($1.99 at Hobby Lobby, $2.99 at Michaels)
Scrapbook Paper
Paint
Distress Ink (I used a color called Peeled Paint)
3 Saints pictures from DT
Sand Paper

The wooden embellishments

1. Because the paint will need time to dry, start this process first. I painted my embellishments all Ivory color. I wound up needing 2 coats, but next time, I think I'd choose to use spray paint for reasons I'll note below.
2. Once the embellishment is covered and dry, water down your brush, and use a second color. I choose Moss Green. Water down the paint with the brush, and cover the object, paying close mind to fill in crevices, creases, dimples, etc. Let it set for just a moment, then use a slightly damp paper towel to wipe the paint off. This should leave just a slight hint of color in the creases.
3. After it has dried completely again, I took my Peeled Paint distress ink, and just brushed it against the surface, so that some ridges were brushed with a deep sage green color.

Note about these embellishments:

I'm not sure if it was the paint I used, or the quality of the wooden embellishments, but every last one of them showed little surface cracks, and the tops were peeling from the backs after I painted them. Given that I used 4 different packs, and 3 different designs, I think it was the quality of the embellishments, and not the paint. One of them even had to be glued together. I have used these once before, and spray painted them first, and they did not do this. Maybe it was a bad lot, but given that it was 4 packs and 3 different designs, I'm not sure.

The picture

1.  Sand the surface of your picture down, first. The Mod Podge will adhere better. Once it is sanded, make sure to thou roughly wipe it down, so that the dust is all gone.
2. Measure the paper- I measured it wide enough to wrap around the edges. Cut it out, and set it aside. 
3. Apply a thin layer of Mod Podge to the front of the picture. I chose to use Matte finished. Once it's coated, smooth the paper on. In my case, I turned the paper upside down, and put the picture down on it so I could more easily center it. Using pressure, your hand, your distress ink- whatever you have, smooth out the paper as it dries, to limit or eliminate wrinkles. 
4. Once it's dry, choose your next paper. For my second paper, I ripped a sheet of cream colored, slightly pearlized scrapbook paper in half, then tore the remaining edges. Once torn, I distressed each edge.
5. Mod podge the paper onto the center, paying close attention to smoothing out wrinkles. If you are happy with the over all picture at this point, and have no desire to add to the basic design, Mod Podge over the entire surface for a top coat, and let dry.
6. Once it's dry, take your now dry wooden embellishments, arrange them how you like, and hot glue them into place.
7. Lastly, seal the wood with a coat of Mod Podge.

 My total costs:

Wooden Embellishments: $8
Scrapbook Paper: $1.35
Saints Pictures- $3
Paint, Ink, Mod Podge- Pennies, it was on hand, and reusable

Total Cost: Roughly $12.50 for 3 8x10 Wall Hangings

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